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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. W. RUSH & J. J. WEIGHT-MAN. TRUNK BRAOE.

No. 392,525. x Patented Nov. 6, 1888..

ATTORNEYS;

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.UNITED STATES PATENT @rrrcE.

GEORGE WV. RUSH AND JOSEPH J. WVEIGHTMAN, OF BRIDGEION, NEW JERSEY; SAID WEIGHTMAN ASSIGNOR TO JOSEPH J. WEIGHTMAN, J E,

OF SAME PLACE.

TRUNK-BRACE- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 392,525, dated November 6, 1888.

Application filed September 20, 1888. Serial No. 285,891.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE W. Russ: and J OSEPH J. WEIGHTMAN, both of Bridgeton, in the county of Cumberland and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Trunk-Braces, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our invention relates to travelingtrunks; and its objects are to provide such trunks with a simple and efiective device, whereby they may be strengthened and fitted to withstand the rough handling to which they are commonly subject-ed during transportation.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of parts of the brace and the arrangement of the same in relation to the trunk, hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

Figure 1 is an-end elevation of a trunk having the improved brace applied. Figs. 2and 3 are broken sectional views taken on the line a; a: in Fig. 1, respectively showing the brace in its fastened and unfastened position. Fig. 4 is an inverted plan View of the fastening device. Fig. 5 is a detail view,partly in section, of the fastening device. Fig. 6 is an end elevation of a trunk, showing a modified construction and arrangement of the brace in fastened position. Fig. 7 is a broken sectional View thereof, taken on the line y y in Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a broken front elevation of a trunk having said brace applied to the same; and Fig. 9 is a broken end elevation of the same, showing the brace in unfastened position.

In carrying our invention into effect as an end brace we secure at the ends of the trunk 1, next the cleat on the top thereof, by means of flat hinges 2 of ordinary construction, a metal loop consisting of two flat members, 3, which extend diagonally downward toward each other on either side of the trunk-handle, and are united at their lower ends by a transverse bar, 4, adapted to be engaged with the fastening device hereinafter described. Said fastening device, which is also constructed of metal, consists of a body, 5, having integral (N0 model.)

therewith aperturedlugs 6 to receive screws or nails for securing it to the trunk, and on its front at its upper end a log, 7, the under face of which is beveled upwardly and inwardly. In the center of said body and extending through the same is produced an opening, 8, having substantially the shape of an inverted T, transversely the longer member of which in the under side of said body is produced a rectangular recess, 9, and on the upper side of said body and extending over the shorter member of said opening is formed a depression, 10, substantially half oval in shape. Said bodyis provided with a locking-lever, 11, having a head, 12, the upper face of which is beveled downwardly and outwardly and is adapted to bear against the face of the beveled lug 7, an upwardly-extending notch, 13, below said head, a rounded projection, 14, below said notch, a finger-piece, 15, at the lower end of the body corresponding in shape with the depression 10, and on its under side at right angles with its upper end said lever is provided with integral projections 16. The locking-lever is adapted to he slipped into the T- shaped opening, the projections 16 passing into the shorter member of the opening, so that said projections rest in the recess 9, and the body of the fastening device being then secured by screws or nails to the trunk below the loop and trunk-handle, the lever 11 is retained in the body, but is free to be swung inward and outward on the projections 16 as pivots.

In operation the locking-lever is swung upward and the loop is engaged with the notch in said lever. The latter is then pressed down into the central opening and depression in the body of the fastening device, the beveled head of the lever bearing firmly against the face of the beveled lug on said body, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, preventing disengagement of and slackening of the loop. By swinging the lever outward, as shown in Fig. 3, the loop is readily disengaged therefrom, freeing it from tension and allowing the trunk to be opened.

In the modification of the end brace illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 we employ the abovedescribed fastening device, arranged as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the loop 17, however, be-

trunk by means ofa fiat open book, 18. Saidloops extend downward within the trunk-handles and are connected and disconnected from the locking device in the manner heretofore described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and may be removed from and applied to the trunk when desired.

In Figs. 8 and 9 the loop 17 is shown applied as a brace to the front of the trunk, being secured to the trunk in the one instance by a flat hinge, 19, of ordinary construction, and in the other instance by means of a hinge, 20, having its body bent at an angle to adapt it to span the cleat at the side edge of the top of the trunk. Two of these loops and two of the above-described fastening devices are applied to the trunk at either side of its look more or less adjacent to its ends, and are connected and disconnected as hereinbefore specified.

The brace may be applied at the ends of the trunk only, at both the front and ends thereof, or at the front only, as may be found desirable.

It will thus be seen that by our invention we provide a comparatively inexpensive trunk-brace, which is simple in construction and operation, effective in use and readily applied, and which when fastened gives the trunk great rigidity and strength.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Atrunk-brace consisting of a fastener attached to the body of the trunk, and having an adjustable combined catch and tightener, and a metal loop pendent from the cover of the trunk for engagement with said catch and tightene'r, substantially as shown and described.

' 2. A trunk-brace consisting of a fastener attached to the body of the trunk, and having an and tightener, substantially as shown and de- 3. A trunk-brace consisting of a fastener attached to the body of the trunk, and having an .to receive the lower end of said loop, substanble catch and tightener attached to the body of the trunk and adapted to receive said crossbar, substantially as shown and described.

5. A trunk-brace consisting of an endless metal loop attached to the cover of the trunk and extending downward within its handles, and an adj ustable catch and tightener attached to the body of the trunk and adapted tially as shown and described.

6. In a trunk-brace, the combination, with a metal loop formed of two diagonal members attached to the cover of the trunk, extending downward at either side of its handles and united below the same by a cross-bar, of an apertured and recessed support attached to the body of the trunk, having on its upper face a beveled lug, and a locking-lever pivoted in said support, having a beveled head adapted to bear on the face of said lug, and an upwardly-extending notch in its outer face, adapted to be engaged by the cross-bar of said loop, substantially as shown and described.

7. In a trunk-brace, the combination, with an endless metal 100p attached to the cover of the trunk and extending downward within its handles, of an apertured and recessed support attached to the body of the trunk, having on its upper face a beveled lug, and a locking-lever pivoted in said support, having a beveled head adapted to bear on the face of said lug, and an upwardly-extending notch in its face, adapted to be engaged by the lower end of said loop, substantially as shown and described.

GEORGE W. BUSH. JOSEPH J. WEIGHTMAN.

Vitnesses:

A. B. MOPHERSON, ORESTES 000K. 

